"The bloody conflicts of the past decade have focused international attention on the strategic role of the media in promoting war and perpetuating chaos. Written against this backdrop, Forging Peace brings together case studies and legal analysis of the steps that the United Nations, NATO, and other
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organizations have taken to build pluralist and independent media in the wake of massive human rights violations. It examines current thinking on the legality of unilateral humanitarian intervention, and analyzes in graphic detail the pioneering use of information intervention techniques in conflict zones, ranging from full-scale bombardment and confiscation of transmitters to the establishment of new laws and regulatory regimes. With its focus on the role of media in preventing human rights violations, Forging Peace will influence policy and debate for years to come." (Publisher description)
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"The media cannot be neutral towards peace: While news journalists may react strongly against such a claim by holding their ’professional objectivity’ above everything else, they must realise that the way in which they report on and about a certain conflict can drastically affect the audience’
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s perception of the situation and thus may influence further developments. While we would not want to endorse the idea that the news media may be controlled and used for specific purposes, even that of peace, the perception that journalists ought to be ‘neutral’ needs to be overcome. Simply by being there and reporting on a conflict, the media alter the communication environment and are thus inherently involved in the conflict and non-neutral. Furthermore, there is a very fine line between discarding one’s objectivity and viewing events with a certain attitude towards conciliation. In other words, though the media are usually run for profit, and, moreover, conflict sells better than cooperation, journalists should ensure balanced reporting with a view to preventing the escalation of tensions. It is possible to move in this direction by covering peace initiatives - at the very least – in as much detail as renewed escalations, by choosing to counter hate speech, and thus reducing the negative potentials of the media in conflict situations. Media that are sensitive towards the task of promoting tolerant and diverse viewpoints can be both informative as well as entertaining and have a large potential audience. In strengthening local capacities’ efforts, assistance can focus on three different aspects of local media structures: creating an open media culture that allows different voices to emerge and be heard, enhancing professional training and education for journalists, and supplying technical equipment to local media institutions." (Pages 2-3)
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"The framework provides some common indicators or consequences for the media in environments of pre-, overt and post-conflict. It presents a typology of interventions potentially appropriate to the media conditions that exist in those stages of conflict, or in others. It provides indicators for asse
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ssing those interventions. And the framework draws operational lessons from media-related programming and includes a matrix of exceptional examples of media peacebuilding initiatives." (Introduction)
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"In order to get a sound base for its future decisions on the role of media for peacebuilding, the Political Department IV of the Swiss Foreign Ministry has asked the swisspeace Center for Peacebuilding (KOFF) to initiate a process for compiling the current knowledge, existing experiences, and futur
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e challenges in this field. This should support the decision process in the Ministry on how media assistance could play a major role in their endeavor to contribute to peacebuilding efforts. The first step in this process was to commission a study on the state of the art in the field of media and peacebuilding. The second step was to convene a workshop, in which the first draft of the study was presented and discussed by experts and representatives of Swissbased media NGOs. In this workshop the media NGOs were also given the opportunity to present their view of the role and strategic position of media in peacebuilding and formulate the challenges they see for media projects in peacebuilding. The workshop participants also formulated common recommendations and open questions. This report compiles all the workshop’s input and presentations, and it summarizes its recommendations. In combination with the study “Media and peacebuilding: Concepts, actors, challenges” it hopefully contributes to the international debate on the role of the media and supports the ongoing process of reviewing their contribution to peacebuilding efforts." (Introduction, page 1)
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"Die voranschreitende Globalisierung der Medienkommunikation verlangt eine Revision vieler sozial- und kulturwissenschaftlicher Konzepte, die in ihrer Argumentation historisch von einer nationalen Gesellschaft ausgingen. Hierzu gibt es auf internationaler Ebene eine umfassende wissenschaftliche Disk
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ussion. Der Band führt sowohl theoretisch als auch auf aktuelle Beispiele bezogen in diese Diskussion über die transkulturelle Kommunikation ein. Er enthält zentrale Beiträge von Vertreterinnen und Vertretern aller Kontinente und verschiedener Disziplinen." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"This guide considers the role of media in conflict and crisis areas, examines media projects established to provide information to affected populations in conflict situations, either during crisis or in the post-conflict period. Its four main sections discuss: Designing programmes for populations i
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n crisis; Humanitarian information programmes; Media projects for peace-building; Measuring impact: The difficult field of impact evaluation. Produced with the support of the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO), the guide originated from a conference in 1998 entitled Strengthening Lifeline Media in Regions of Conflict, which brought together media professionals and experts in conflict resolution to examine how media could impact on peace-building in conflict situations." (https://reliefweb.int)
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"A great deal has now been written about the patterns of media exploitation as they contribute to a vortex of destruction. Less has been elaborated about the efforts of international governmental organisations ("IGOs") and non-governmental organisations ("NGOs") to intervene so as to maintain a more
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stable and peaceful world order either in anticipation of conflict, during the conflict or in the ordeal following the conflict. This paper focuses, as a background for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ("UNESCO") Geneva Conference, in May 2000, on post-conflict patterns that emerge, primarily drawing from four case studies—Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Rwanda, and Cambodia." (Introduction)
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